TUM is one of the premiere universities in Germany and worldwide. The Wind Energy Institute was founded in 2013, and Prof. Carlo L. Bottasso is the first holder of the Chair in Wind Energy at TUM.

The mission of the Wind Energy Institute is to educate students and contribute to the development of wind energy technology. These goals are pursued by advancing the understanding of the physics that underlie the energy conversion process from wind, and by developing engineering solutions that exploit this knowledge.

The Wind Energy Institute works both on basic scientific and application-oriented problems. Research in this field is highly multi-disciplinary, reflecting the multiphysics nature of the conversion process that takes place at the level of the individual wind turbine and within a wind farm. Relevant disciplines include the aerodynamics of turbulent flows, aero-hydro-servo-elasticity, controls, materials and manufacturing, generator and grid technology, health monitoring, and others.

The Institute has four main thrust areas: simulation, testing, control and design. Among the pillars of wind energy research, simulation technology and experimental testing play crucial roles and go hand in hand. The former provides the tools for simulating wind energy systems, while the latter provides the data for the validation and calibration of the simulation tools, thereby establishing their level of fidelity to reality. Controls play central roles in establishing performance as well as ultimate and fatigue loading. Finally, design, with its holistic view of the problem, is the ultimate judge of any technological innovation, leading to the understanding of cost/benefit trade-offs.